This invention relates to storage units and, more particularly adapted for the storage of knives, a sharpening steel and the like on a countertop or similar surface.
So-called "knife blocks" have, through the years, become well known in the art. They consist, generally, of a block of wood or similar material having formed therein at spaced intervals a series of blade-receiving pockets. A knife is stored in units of this general type by inserting the blade into its particular pocket until the handle comes into abutment with the block. A single block or combinations of blocks may be adapted to receive a set of steak knives, a butcher knife, a paring knife or knives, a bread knife, a sharpening steel or any of a wide variety of other types of cutlery.
Many currently available knife blocks provide an aesthetically pleasing means for knife storage. They are also functional in the sense that, once the knife is stored, a user's hand cannot accidentally come into contact with the blade as in the case where such knives are stored in drawer trays and the like.
One significant drawback of prior art knife blocks, however, has been the amount of counter space which they occupy and , for that matter, the amount of wood or other suitable material required for their construction. Since knife blocks of the general type under consideration are typically stored on a kitchen countertop against the wall beneath a cupboard, the pockets must be angled sufficiently with respect to the vertical to permit storage and withdrawal of the knife without interference from the bottom of the cupboard. This problem has been solved in prior art knife blocks by forming the pockets at an angle of 45.degree., more or less, with the vertical permitting insertion and removal of the knives without interference from the bottom of the overhead cupboard. This solution, however, has resulted in extremely bulky knife blocks, many of which are extremely expensive to manufacture, and which, simply stated, require the allocation of excessive space in relation to the aesthetic and functional advantages which they provide.